Douglas A-3 (A3D) Skywarrior and B-66 Destroyer

[Daryl J.]

So:  J-79s with their new engine pods/etc.,  revised nose for the radar unit, underwing TER-like pylons with an Eagle and Sidewinder.   One gets lost at sea near Taiwan and later the missile winds up in clone form under a Finback or Flanker.   But I digress....


But one does wonder if TF33 variants could have gone to the Gulf this past 1/2 lifetime of conflict.   Or if they could do the Mach Loop, but in Norwegian colors.

[Scooterman]

Did the Skywarrior ever get ejection seats?   Did the engines remain largely the same throughout its career?

No and yes.  Simples! 

Gotta bail?  Lower the crew entry door, lean back and bobs yer uncle.

The engines were never uprated.  That's the big reason the ERA-3B couldn't trap aboard a boat-not enough go around power.

[Daryl J.]

Thanks.     

[Daryl J.]

Could it carry Hound Dogs?

[GTX_Admin]

This sort?



Or this?



Sorry...couldn't resist.

[Daryl J.]

This:

[elmayerle]

Considering that the missile kind would need to be carried outboard of the engine nacelles, I'm not totally certain but if they were, 'twould be a tight fit.  On the other hand, just as with the B-52, the extra engines could help on takeoff.

[Daryl J.]

Ogival curves on all flying surfaces tips similar to that of the Hawker Hunter and early Harriers.    It's a recurring theme with me but to my eyes the Skywarrior would carry them well.

[GTX_Admin]

Random ideas:  RN FAA or Aéronavale version?

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Random ideas:  RN FAA or Aéronavale version?

Would the Clemenceau (R 98) and Foch (R 99) have been able to support an aircraft as large as the Skywarrior? 

[Rickshaw]

Would the Clemenceau (R 98) and Foch (R 99) have been able to support an aircraft as large as the Skywarrior?

Doubtful as they had problems handling anything larger than the F-8 Crusader (which is why the Phantom never had any luck in Aeronavale circles and why the Crusader soldiered on for so long).

[GTX_Admin]

Ah, but in the whiff verse, the Verdun might have entered service...

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Could it carry Hound Dogs?

Daryl, based on what information is available at Wikipedia for the Boeing AGM-28 Hound Dog Air to Surface Missile there is no way the A-3 Skywarrior could physically lift one or a pair of these weapons let alone find room under the wings to fit the pylons that carried them.  Scale-o-Rama will get you what you want but certainly not the same scale models.  Based on the following weight and dimensions you can see that it would be impossible to do anything but park these things side by side on the parking ramp:

Weight    4,603 kilograms (10,147 lb)
Length    12.95 m (42 feet 6 inches)
Height    2.84 m (9 feet 4 inches)
Diameter    71.0 cm (28 in)

The weight of one missile plus the supporting pylon will exceed the carrying capacity of the Skywarrior which was rated in the bomber version with a maximum payload of 12,800 pounds (5,800 kg). 

By the way, the engine on the AGM-28 Hound Dog is the J52 which also powered some models of the the A-4 Skyhawk, A-6 and EA-6 Intruders, and several other aircraft. 

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Ah, but in the whiff verse, the Verdun might have entered service...

Or a couple of long hull Essex class (or Midway class) carriers are loaned to France to support their commitment to NATO...

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How about USMC VMA(H) Skywarrior squadrons? 

Taking the Marine's air-ground team concept just a little further in the air-support concept. 

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Does anyone have a good image or drawing of the stores pylon mounted under the wing of the A-3 Skywarrior (or the B-66)?  Searching through all of my references has given me nothing but oblique views of the pylon or some rather horrible and very pixelated images of drawings that were not the best to start with.  The only stores pylon that I know of is part of the Collectaire 1:48th scale EB-66/B-66 Destroyer kit.  The Trumpeter 1:48th scale A3D Skywarrior kit does not include the pylons and I have no idea if these will be included in any future EA-3 or EKA-3 Skywarrior kit from Trumpeter.  I noted a similarity between the heavy wing stores pylon on the A-1 Skyraider (A-1E and later models) and the pylon used on the Skywarrior.  I might be coincidence or it could be my imagination running rampant but it would be nice to know by way of better references if the pylons share something in common. 

[upnorth]

I am thinking of doing mine as a West German ELINT aircraft.

I like where you're going with that thinking.

The Skywarrior would look particularly great in Norm 72 and perhaps good in the later Norm 81 scheme as well.

I imagine it would also look pretty fetching in West German navy colours from the F-104 and early Tornado eras. Sling a couple of Kormorans under the wings and go fishing.

[finsrin]

What comes to mind is to hang under each wing one B-52D/G/H or B-58 J79 jet engine pod.
Any of those will make for a short takeoff roll and steep climb.
Parts are available to build it 1/72.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Sling a couple of Kormorans under the wings and go fishing.

Kormorans on a German Navy Skywarrior sounds like an excellent idea. 

[upnorth]

Sling a couple of Kormorans under the wings and go fishing.

Kormorans on a German Navy Skywarrior sounds like an excellent idea.

I'd think Exocets would do well on a French Navy variation. Surely the Skywarrior has the internal volume for the additional fuel and Exocet specific electronics gear that it could carry a pair as opposed to the single one carried by the Super Etendard.

[jschmus]

Images of SKywarrior wing pylons








I posted the best of the bunch from as many angles as I could find.  Looks like you could used wing pylons from an A-6.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Images of SKywarrior wing pylons

I posted the best of the bunch from as many angles as I could find.  Looks like you could used wing pylons from an A-6.

Thanks but that was pretty much the same stuff I was encountering in my own searches.  Not quite what I was looking for which was something that would provide better details of the pylon without the aircraft being the focus of the image. 

***update. 

Now that the ARC forums are back up and working again I was able to contact one of the resident experts on all things related to Naval Aviation.  His reply was quick in coming and hopefully we will have a nice drawing of said stores pylons sometime soon that provides the information necessary to make them from scratch.  Perhaps Trumpeter will wise up and include the pylons in a later version of the A-3/A3D which would be even better. 

[GTX_Admin]

Random idea:  swing wing version with the engines on swivelling pylons

[kitnut617]

Images of SKywarrior wing pylons

OK, so what's the story behind this great big radome ?

[upnorth]

OK, so what's the story behind this great big radome ?

sinusitis?

[kitnut617]

Found something about it, it's the NTA-3B.  Used to test the F-14 radar.  You can find more pics on Airliners.net

[Silver Fox]

Testbed for the air-to-air BOMARC program. :)

[Talos]

Found something about it, it's the NTA-3B.  Used to test the F-14 radar.  You can find more pics on Airliners.net

Specifically the F-14D's radar. This older A3D was used to test the AWG-9 radar for the original F-14 and the Phoenix missile.